Stocks in Asia have an unremarkable day

The Australian All Ordinaries closed Wednesday with a gain of 23.30 points or 0.39% at 5,982.00

The Shanghai Composite closed 18.014 points or 0.68% down at 2,641.34

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was down 61.95 points or 0.28% at 22,085.80

SYDNEY, Australia Stocks in Asia were directionless on Wednesday, preferring to sit out the midterm elections in the U.S. which saw the Democrats win the House, and the Republicans retaining control of the Senate.

The Australian All Ordinaries closed Wednesday with a gain of 23.30 points or 0.39% at 5,982.00.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was down 61.95 points or 0.28% at 22,085.80.

The Shanghai Composite closed 18.014 points or 0.68% down at 2,641.34.

The Hong Kong Hang Seng at the close was up 26.73 points or 0.10% at 26,147.69.68.

On foreign exchange markets there was a lot of volatility as early election results were painting different pictures. Around the close in Sydney the euro had bounded up to 1.1436. The British pound was being firmly bid at 1.3115.

The Japanese yen rose to 113.14, while the Swiss franc was changing hands at 1.0115. The Canadian dollar was quoted at 1.3134.

The Australian dollar was firm at 0.7241, while the New Zealand dollar was faring best of all, rising to 0.6749.

At the close of trading overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrials were ahead 173.31 points or 0.68% at 25,635.01.